Page 136 - 2021 April 1, ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND Indian Worlds Including Oriental Rugs, Christie's London

The identical pair to the present carpet is in the collection of the princely 1978, pp.108-9). One such pair can be found in the collection at Skokloster
Doria Pamphilj family where it remains on public display at the Palazzo del Slott, Sweden, (Inv.no.1723:2) the former residence of Count Carl Gustaf
Principe in Genoa, built for Andrea Doria in 1521. Once led by Pope Innocent Wrangel (1613-1676), where they have remained ever since. Their field design
X, Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (1644-1655), the Doria Pamphilj, a Roman consists of an overall repeat pattern of Chinese ‘Bat’ motifs alternating with
family of Genoese extraction, were strongly tied to the Catholic church and pomegranates. A previously unpublished pair with eight-pointed central
became heavily involved with Roman and wider Italian politics of the 16th and medallions within a reciprocal ‘trefoil’ border, were sold in these Rooms,
17th centuries. The family commissioned the construction of the imposing 14 April 1988, lot 83 and 84. Remarkably the Doria Pamphilj family had
Palazzo Doria-Pamphilj in Rome in the 17th century, which continues to originally been in possession of a second pair of ‘Polonaise’ carpets, larger
house one of the most valuable private collections of paintings in the world. in proportion than the single medallion format of the present example. The
present carpet and its twin bear a striking similarity to that pair, in that
While there are no records confirming the precise chain of provenance for our
rug until the 1970s, there is a highly probable line of descent from the Doria
Pamphilj family, since it is certain that originally these two rugs would have
been presented or purchased together. In a remarkable Italian aristocratic
marriage of 1878 a Doria Pamphilj heiress, Olimpia Doria Pamphilj Landi
(1854-1929) married Fabrizio Colonna, part of an important noble family that
could number one pope, twenty-two cardinals, numerous dignitaries, senators
and learned individuals in its ranks. The Colonna also owned a substantial art
collection, displayed in the impressive Palazzo Colonna in Rome. As part of
the arrangements there was a considerable exchange of works of art between
the two families, clearly evident today as certain suites of furniture remain
separated between the two. It is highly probable that the present ‘Polonaise’
carpet was separated from its twin upon this marital alliance.
In 1932 Princess Donna Sveva Colonna (1912-1999), married the Spanish
Prince, Don Alfonso Pio Falcò, (1903-1967) from one of the most
distinguished Spanish noble families . In 1973, the present rug was sold by
Princess Donna Pio Falcò to the renowned Torinese collector and antiquarian
dealer, Pietro Accorsi, from whom the present owner promptly purchased it
that same year. Our carpet has remained in that same private collection for
nearly fifty years.
In 1973 Princess Donna Pio Falcò sold the present carpet to the renowned
collector and antiquarian dealer, Pietro Accorsi from Turin, from whom the
present owner promptly purchased it that same year. According to Brancati,
Accorsi was unaware of its art historical importance until he consulted the
esteemed Swiss textile collector, Werner Abegg, who lived at that time in Turin.
In his thesis on the subject pf ‘Polonaise’ carpets, Friedrich Spuhler
documents around 230 complete and fragmentary examples, from which he
draws the conclusion that many of the rugs either show identical designs, or
take sections of endless repeat patterns and which are either then displaced
by one width or are increased on a larger scale. The field designs, with few
exceptions, are based on thirteen different patterns and stylistically almost
all the carpets seem to belong to the same period. The present carpet falls
under the XII classification,
F.Spuhler, Seidene
Repräsentationsteppiche
der mittleren bis späten
Safawidenzeit - Die sog.
Polenteppiche, dissertation,
Berlin, 1968, pp.223-4.
Of the 230 that are The ‘Doria’ Carpet, Gifted by John D. Rockefeller to the Metropolitan
preserved today, twenty nine Museum of Art, New York
of these have a matching
twin, identical in field and
border design as well as they were both woven with the same vivid green and orange colour palette
in colour and are therefore within their borders. It is tempting to consider that both pairs were woven
considered to have been contemporaneously and gifted to the family to be displayed en-suite. While
woven as pairs, and would that pair no longer remains with the family, both are now part of prominent
likely have been displayed institutional collections. One was sold by Sir Joseph Duveen, London, to John
together on ceremonial D. Rockefeller, who by 1930–50 had gifted it to the Metropolitan Museum
occasions, (F.Spuhler, Islamic of Art, New York, while its pair was sold on the European market in 1976 to
Carpets and Textiles in the the Shah of Iran for a rumoured record price and which is now on permanent
Keir Collection, London, display in the Carpet Museum of Tehran, Iran, as a national treasure.
Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743), Louis XV, roi de France
(1710-1774), 1730, (C) RMN-Grand Palais (Château de
Versailles) / image RMN-GP
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